Maezono Kenta
Maezono Kenta comes from Osaka prefecture and is a student of Seidou High School. Like most members he lives in the dorm and is the roommate of Kominato Haruichi. Appearance Zono is a very big, imposing player. He has a close-shave and often wears funny expressions on his face when he bats. He is also occassionally said to have a very scary, almost killer like, face when batting. His scary expressions along with his slugger capabilities allow him to exert great pressure over the opponent pitcher. Character Maezono, who was in the second string for a long time, understands the feelings of his teammates who have made little progress. He speaks roughly but is considerate to those around him and good at taking care of his kouhais. Act I - Volume 23: Character ProfilesSenpai (先輩?) and kōhai (後輩?) are terms applied to the mentor system in wide use in Japanese culture; often found at all levels of education, in sports clubs, businesses, and informal or social organizations. The senpai is roughly equivalent to the Western concept of a mentor, while kōhai is roughly equivalent to protégé, though they do not imply as strong a relationship as these words mean in the West. More simply, these may be translated as senior and junior. He may look fierce but is kind and always watching the whole team. He is also one of the more vocal members of the team, not holding back his thoughts even if it meant disagreeing with his captain, Miyuki. He is waiting for the 3rd years to retire so that he will have the chance to be in the 1st string. At the end of the West Tokyo Tournament, he was chosen as the next vice captain together with Kuramochi. Plot Fall Tournament TBA Spring Koshien He is seen benched during Senbatsu, due to him destroying his batting form in the off-season (because he tried to learn a new batting style).Act I - Special Side-Story "Spirit" Relationships with other characters Miyuki Kazuya These two are not particularly close maybe because of their opposite social skills. While Miyuki's rough and manipulating methods to deal with his teammates is opposite his looks, Zono's the seemingly scary person with a big heart who never hesitates to show his concern to any of his teammates. It was shown in the manga that Zono both dislike and respect Miyuki. He openly admits the latter is a genius and fit as the new captain. However, he dislikes Miyuki's detached attitude toward his teammates and ironically, him being a genius. Miyuki however is a lot comfortable around Zono and is also one of the people he like teasing around. Sawamura Eijun Zono says that Sawamura is always the last one to leave and that he respects him: despite the monstrous Furuya being right next to him, he doesn't give up on becoming the ace or developing as a pitcher. To quote: "His pitching in the game against Teitou encouraged me in a big way."Act I - Chapter 260 Isashiki Jun Maezono has very high respect with Jun, basically because of his senpai's irregular batting style with matching impressive hitting ability. Kominato Haruichi Maezono's roommate and occasional batting buddy and mentor. Skills He’s one of the best of Seidou in the power department. He has a right long distance cannon-like hit (if he manages solid contact). Zono is a typical pull hitter who is not good at hitting to the right. He is also better at hitting inside the strike zone rather than the outside. He also has poor plate discipline, meaning he would swing at every pitch. After observing Zono's swing and batting form, Kataoka pointed out that because Zono tries to forcefully bat to the right too much, he unknowingly tilts his bat down which prevents his power from coming out. He then instructs Zono to focus on hitting over the short stop instead of the second baseman and to wait for the ball until the very last moment then swings at it strongly.S2 - Episode 4 Taking Kataoka's instructions to heart, Zono started showing noticeable improvements to his batting and slugging average. He has since able to land powerful outfield hits more consistently and was able to make big contributions in numerous clutch situations throughout the course of the Fall Tournament. However, his performance has dipped somewhat since the Spring Senbatsu. Player Statistics This data is based on the official guidebook, it will only be changed if there is an official update! Trivia *Favorite Food: Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki Official Guide Book - Omote *Favorite Subject: Math *Hobbies / special skills : push-up, sit-up *People he respects: Azuma Kiyokuni and Isashiki Jun. *He comes from Osaka Boys League where he belonged to the same team as Azuma Kiyokuni. *He has the loudest voice among all the 2nd years. *He has done more practice swings than anyone else on team in the same school year as him. *He was batting 3rd in the beginning, but he was later moved to 5th batter. *In his third year he is in the same class as Asou Takeru. Act II - Chapter 11 *According to Terajima's twitter: **Maezono chose to attend Seido because of Azuma Kiyokuni. *When batting, he sends pitches deep in right field (if hits). *He is the typical pull hitter, but is bad at hitting to the right. Name Etymology *Maezono (前園) - Front Garden *Kenta (健太) - Healthy/Strong and Big/Stout Quotes *"Us second years don't have a right to complain about having given the first years a chance! If you're mad, then work harder!"Act I - Chapter 39 *"People with no talent, have to make up for it with effort!" ''- to Haruichi''Act I - Chapter 44 *"As if I’ll accept being buried like this. My ambition is bigger than the universe!" ''- to Haruichi'' *"From here on, it's our era. I get excited thinking this." ''- to Haruichi'' Act I - Chapter 194 *"No one is a match for him. That guy Sawamura is always the last one remaining. I seriously respect him. Even though that monster Furuya is next to him, he never gives up on becoming the ace or growing as a pitcher." *"If we’re all facing things like hesitation and anxiety, fighting alongside your comrades is what a captain should do, isn’t it?"Act I - Chapter 272 *"Anybody can go and claim he doesn't like something. But coming up with ideas as to how to improve things after that is your duty, Zono. Doncha push everything on the captain."'' - Isashiki''Act I - Chapter 293 *"Everybody is starting to think that you can be reliable. So just pitch your heart out." ''- to Sawamura''Act I - Chapter 308 *"Is he dying? He's going crazy!"'' - about Miyuki''S2 - Episode 51 Gallery maezono02.png sanada.vs.maezono.png maezono.jpg zono.miyuki.jpg References Navigation Category:Seidou High School Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:First Baseman Category:Players Category:3rd Year High School